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Little Feat Thursday · Jillian’s
Like NRBQ (see below), Little Feat has a long and strange career path. Founding guitarist Lowell George went from his mid-’60s Art/Folk band, The Factory, to a brief stint in Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention. After being fired for violating Zappa’s no-drugs policy, George started the first version of Little Feat in 1969. With a brilliant blend of Blues, Country, R&B, Funk, Gospel and George’s twisted sense of songcraft, Little Feat became a Southern California sensation and was signed to Warner Bros., which released their debut album in 1971. Little Feat became progressively funkier in their musical approach (they backed Robert Palmer on his debut solo album, Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley in 1974), and although their albums sold erratically, they became known as a live powerhouse, which propelled 1978’s Waiting for Columbus to platinum status. George disbanded the Feat shortly thereafter and began touring his solo album, Thanks I’ll Eat it Here, in 1979, but died of a heart attack midway through the tour. The band’s members reformed in 1988 with journeyman guitarist Fred Tackett and Cincinnati vocalist/guitarist Craig Fuller (formerly with Pure Prairie League), heralding one of Little Feat’s most commercially successful periods; 1988’s hit “Let It Roll” was licensed for films and advertising numerous times. Fuller split in 1994, replaced by vocalist Shaun Murphy, who gave the band its first feminine touch. While Little Feat hasn’t exactly replicated their critical early success or their mid-period commercial bonanza, they’ve attracted the interest of the Jam community and remain an absolutely essential live extravaganza, a Rock & Roll force of nature that never fails to completely entertain. (Brian Baker)
NRBQ with Chuck Garvey Thursday · Coney Island’s Moonlite Gardens
Now performing in their fifth decade, NRBQ has evolved from an artsy Blues/Jazz homage to Sun Ra in the late ’60s to a rootsy Pop outfit in the ’70s and ’80s and ultimately into one of the most butt-shaking, groove-grinding, smile-inducing good time Rock & Roll bands on the planet.
It seems almost ridiculous to exhort you to go and see them on their umpeenth visit to Cincinnati; trying to get more than the same 400 people to show up at an NRBQ show here is like trying to entice bar patrons on Saturday night to go to church Sunday morning. It’s gotten so bad that no local promoter was willing to book NRBQ on their latest tour; the band was resigned to skipping Cincinnati on this circuit. Enter NRBQ überfan Jim Christmann — who, by his own estimation, has seen the band at least 16 times in the past 20 years — who heard the news and decided to take matters into his own hands. Christmann contacted NRBQ’s booking agent through the band’s Web site and took the unorthodox step of booking the show himself. This isn’t quite as crazy as it seems at first blush; Christmann works as a sales rep for Coney Island and got some help in securing Moonlite Gardens as the venue for the show. Christmann also received some underwriting support from Phil’s Records (which is offering store discounts on used CDs, vinyl and books for anyone who buys their ticket at the store). A little added incentive for those not counted among the Q 400 is the appearance of moe. guitarist Chuck Garvey as NRBQ’s opening act. Christmann reports that Garvey, who now calls Cincinnati home, is slightly anxious about playing a solo gig (he’ll warm up at the Northside Tavern on Wednesday). There are any number of reasons to see NRBQ this time around, but you really only need one — to see the best intimate Rock show you’re ever likely to see. (BB)
18 Visions with Underoath Friday · Top Cat’s
Don’t let the opening track of 18 Vision’s new CD Obsession (Epic/Trustkill) fool you. Although it mainly consists of three words — obsession, anger and depression — the epic soundscape that encompasses every aspect of the song proves that they have many avenues of intense release ready for travel. This journey is accomplished not just throughout this latest release but stems back to their beginnings as a band when James Hart (vocals), Ken Floyd (drums), Jav Van Huss (bass), Brandon Schieppati (guitar) and Keith Barney (guitar) came together to pound out their debut, 2000’s Until The Ink Runs Out. This CD established them as major players in the world of metallic Hardcore and, while Hart, Floyd and Barney are the only original members still a part of the lineup (Huss and Schieppati have since been replaced by Mick Morris and Jason Shrout, respectively), the overflow of controlled distortion has maintained its constant velocity. Not only is the instrumentation on Obsession very crisp and refined, but Hart’s vocals remain decipherable through the entire CD. This is refreshing considering the throng of other Hardcore bands out there that seem to think that recording themselves gargling salt water constitutes how a good vocalist should sound. Luckily, the union 18 Visions has made between their rebar-enforced wall of sound and their frontman with excellent vocal chords (don’t worry, Hart proves in each song that he also has the ability to bark verbal punishment at any given moment) is one that should carry them both onto the list of must-hear Hardcore bands and out of their current relative obscurity to headline their own brutal shows. (Jacob Richardson)
The Fever with Death From Above Saturday · Top Cat’s
Indie Rock is gradually moving from the garage to the disco, with a myriad of new artists finding success with a sound that implores their audience to show some moves beyond the usual stand-in-one-place-and-nod-your-head dance of the Indie nation. The NYC-based group’s jerky, upbeat sound first appeared on last year’s Pink On Pink EP. That release’s riotous cover of Sheila E’s hit, “The Glamorous Life,” drew some attention from Modern Rock radio, luring listeners to see them live, which is where the band really explodes. (Their appearance last year at Top Cat’s with Hot Hot Heat was a fantastic sweat-fest, but woefully missed by many due to their early position in the lineup.) With the wider playing field of a long-playing CD at their disposal on the new Red Bedroom (featuring the absurdist, New Wave cover artwork of singer Geremy Jasper), The Fever is able to extend its range a bit, still providing the insistent blasts of quirk, but developing a more textural, expansive side as well (the guitar and organ interplay is especially more developed and evolved). With its spasmodic rhythms, wiry, chicken-scratch guitar (if said chicken was hopped up on goof balls and bumping into the walls of its pen) and Jasper’s cool vocal idiosyncrasies (there’s even some icy Vocoder action on the track, “Scorpio”), Red Bedroom seethes the kind of exhilaration that will have you euphoric and confident enough to forget that you can’t dance. On that note, if you’re the kind of person who likes to go to concerts and make fun of white people who dance like a deaf and blind P. Diddy on too much espresso, besides that scary “Discomania” show at Riverbend a short while back and most Party in the Park events, this will be your favorite show all summer. (Mike Breen)
This article appears in Jun 16-22, 2004.
